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Senate Daily Summary
No. 38/2011
Thursday, 18 August 2011
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The Senate met from 9.30 am until 6.23 pm
Senators
Senator Thistlethwaite gave his first speech.
Senator Coonan made a statement relating to her imminent retirement. Responses were made by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate ( Senator Abetz ) and the Leader of the Government in the Senate (Senator Evans).
Legislation
Bills and related documents
Bills considered
The following bills were introduced
- Australian Energy Market Amendment (National Energy Retail Law) Bill 2011 [passed by the House of Representatives on 17 August 2011]
- Competition and Consumer Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2011 [passed by the House of Representatives on 7 July 2011]
- Competition and Consumer Legislation Amendment Bill 2011 [passed by the House of Representatives on 17 August 2011]
- Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Amendment (National Regulator) Bill 2011 [passed by the House of Representatives on 6 July 2011]
- Offshore Petroleum (Royalty) Amendment Bill 2011 [passed by the House of Representatives on 6 July 2011]
- Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2011 [passed by the House of Representatives on 17 August 2011]
- Tax Laws Amendment (2011 Measures No. 6) Bill 2011 [passed by the House of Representatives on 17 August 2011]
The following bill was debated
- Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Bill 2011– committee of the whole continued –1 Government amendment agreed to and 4 Senator Xenophon and Opposition amendments to be determined [further amendments remain to be considered]
The following bills were passed
- Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Amendment (Disallowance and Amendment Power of the Commonwealth) Bill 2010– 4 Government amendments agreed to, including an amendment to the title [the House of Representatives will now consider this private senator’s bill]
- Indigenous Education (Targeted Assistance) Amendment Bill 2011 [The bill will now be assented to]
- Statute Stocktake Bill (No. 1) 2011 [The bill will now be assented to]
Message from the House of Representatives
- Child Support (Registration and Collection) Amendment Bill 2011–agreeing to the amendment made by the Senate [The bill will now be assented to]
Notice of motion to introduce a private senator’s bill
- Landholders’ Right to Refuse (Coal Seam Gas) Bill 2011–notice given by Senator Waters
Bills assented to
Assent to a number of laws was reported in the Senate
See Committees for details of reports relating to legislation
Committees
Scheduled public committee hearings
Committee reports
Reports tabled
Reports on legislation
- Migration Amendment (Detention Reform and Procedural Fairness) Bill 2010–Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee [ report ]
- Public Service Amendment (Payments in Special Circumstances) Bill 2011–Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee [ report ]
- Veterans’ Entitlements Amendment Bill 2011–Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee [ report ]
Other reports
- Cyber Safety Joint Select Committee–Review of the Cybercrime Legislation Amendment Bill 2011 [ report ] [a motion to take note of the report was debated – first speaker ]
Documents tabled
New inquiries
Selection of Bills Committee report
The Senate adopted report no. 10 of 2011 of the Selection of Bills Committee, and made the following references:
- Air Navigation and Civil Aviation Amendment (Aircraft Crew) Bill 2011–Rural Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee–to report by 21 November 2011
- Trade Marks Amendment (Tobacco Plain Packaging) Bill 2011–Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee–to report by 19 September 2011
Proposed reference
The Senate did not agree to refer matters relating to university funding arrangements to the Education, Employment and Workplace Relations References Committee.
Reporting date extended
The Senate extended the reporting date for the inquiry of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee into the Family Law Legislation Amendment (Family Violence and Other Measures) Bill 2011 to 22 August 2011.
Reporting date revised
The Senate revised the reporting date for the inquiry of the Rural Affairs and Transport References Committee into the Live Animal Export (Slaughter) Prohibition Bill 2011 [No. 2] and a related bill to 21 September 2011.
Notice of motion
Senator Siewert gave a notice of motion to refer matters relating to the administration and purchasing of Disability Employment Services in Australia to the Education, Employment and Workplace Relations References Committee to report by 22 November 2011.
Membership
The Senate agreed to various changes to committee membership.
Messages from the House of Representatives were reported advising of appointments to the Intelligence and Security Joint Committee and the Australia’s Immigration Detention Network Joint Select Committee.
Documents
Delegated legislation
See Disallowance Alert for a complete list of notices of motion to disallow (and outcomes)
- Clerk’s documents were tabled [legislative instruments and other documents required by statute to be tabled, including Governor-General’s Proclamations]
Documents tabled
- Department of the Senate–Register of Senate senior executive officers’ interests incorporating statements of registrable interests lodged by 15 August 2011
Ministerial statement tabled
The Minister for Small Business (Senator Sherry) tabled a ministerial statement about the reform of support services for people with disability.
Orders for the production of documents
Document tabled
A document was tabled relating to the Tasmanian Forests Intergovernmental Agreement [The document was tabled in response to the order of the Senate agreed to on 17 August 2011].
Notice of motion
Senator Cormann gave a notice of motion to require the tabling of documents relating to act of grace payments by no later than 12.00 pm on 23 August 2011 .
Documents discussed
Government documents, committee reports, government responses and Auditor-General’s reports were discussed [see Journals entries nos 44, 45 and 46]
Other business
Questions without notice and issues arising during question time– first question
Adjournment debate– first speaker
Motions agreed to
Motions negatived
Matter of public importance discussed
Message from the House of Representatives
A message was reported advising that the House had concurred with the Senate’s resolution about the reduction of energy use in Parliament House [agreed to on 21 June 2011].
Notices of motion
Notices of motion given today are available in the Senate Journals.
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Online
The Senate Daily Summary is available on the Internet at www.aph.gov.au/senate
It is issued by the Senate Table Office as a convenient summary of each day’s proceedings in the Senate. For a complete account see the official record, the Journals of the Senate,on the Internet at http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/pubs/index.htm.
Related resources
The Order of Business (or ‘Senate Red’) and the Dynamic Red (which updates the Order of Business throughout the sitting day) are also available on the Internet at www.aph.gov.au/senate
Contact details
Inquiries, comments and suggestions:
phone 6277 3021
e-mail: sds@aph.gov.au